Chapter 0.5: Another Night in Neverland (1)

Rain hammered down against the concrete gleaming floor, clouding the sound of the glistering city, as the sky turned into a shade of grey, emitting euphoric, howbeit arcane, exotic radiance. The wind blew, conducting a great amount of air. Neverending masses caulked the streets. It had been an hour since the authorities and association came in and cleaned up the mess caused by the deviant wonderland creature. Everything was back to normal. It was just an ordinary city like any other. Despite that heavy rain, guys and gals wearing unified tee-shirts proliferated the sidewalks, passing out flyers to the disconnected public with a desolate smile — even those commuting to better the world were disconnected.

The others were back to their affairs. Nathan went to the Academy to submit a report about the mission in order for the rest of the team to receive their rankings. Zoe had her parents pick her up after they heard of the "catastrophe" going on — they were very protective of their daughter, like any parent should be.

As for Lloyd, he pottered aimlessly through the streets of the city, taking in the rain completely, which hasn't shown a sign of letting up anytime soon. Eventually, he found himself near the citadel, the very center of Pontemus. The endless road was swarming with people from north to south, day and night, even in this rain, as shops opened and closed. Strings of lights shined together across the entire street — like they would every night — casting a beautiful collage.

Wherever Lloyd went, there were people sheltered by umbrellas from the top. He could never understand why so many people he knew hated the rain. Standing outside amidst with no cover was the peak of rhapsody. In his mindset, it was to either be out like him or stay in-doors.

— Rain… The very paragon of euphoria and melancholia. I could drown in it and not even be bothered. The best canvas to ever be engrossed into.

Deep down, he wished to be alone in this rain. That sudden change from excitement and fantasy-filled day to… just another day was something he always loathed. But that was reality… the fun stopped and life moved on.

— I wonder if Wonderland is also like that.

Only in a true tale of fiction does the adventure move in a constant stream. It was all for the purpose of grabbing the reader's attention. Just focus on the action and forget all the in-between, forget the life that was very the construct for it all. Lloyd wasn't in favor of that, however, he valued the small moments just as much as the big moments… every moment.

Just now, he got off the phone with his mother, who was a renowned healer (and sometimes, the team's personal healer for severe cases like this), after Emiya and Juno ended up in her care at the hospital. Whenever anything would happen to Lloyd or any of his friends, she would always be there to help, even if that day happened to be her day off like today as well. That was one of the things Lloyd truly admired about his mother.

Apparently, Emiya was discharged minutes after she walked in. The girl had great recovery speed, something that could not be said about Juno. Juno stayed in the hospital for quite a while, receiving the special, luxurious, treatment from Lloyd's mother.

Hearing about that, Lloyd felt reassurance. He was more so concerned about Juno's well-being, considering Emiya was a blockhead who could recover from practically anything.

"Hey kid, this area is off-limits!" A man approached him.

"...?"

Before he realized it, Lloyd was in a construction area facing the back of the citadel. He stood at a small incomplete pedestrian overpass. Directly underneath him, was the rest of Central Street (the street in which the citadel lied), which seemed like a suburban alley with how many people there were. It seemed that the government was constructing something new for the city. It had been like that for over the past year. New projects spawned everywhere. It wasn't all out of the ordinary considering most of the city hadn't changed much in a hundred years.

"Enjoying the rain?" A familiar voice spoke right behind Lloyd.

It was Shogo. He stood in his usual garment and carried an umbrella around like everyone else. If Lloyd didn't know him well enough, he would have been mistaken for an agent, especially with those shades of his.

"Yo, Agent Smith!" Lloyd waved at him before walking away from the construction site's border and leaning on the overpass's fence. "I thought you had a meeting with the principal. It's almost evening."

"You still haven't answered my question." Shogo, with his usual smile, walked and stood by Lloyd's side. "How do you feel about the rain?"

Even with his shades on, Lloyd could feel Shogo's eyes on him. They were two boys standing in the rain side by side, one sheltered himself, and another drowned completely without a bother.

"I guess… I don't know. I'm happy, personally… but it feels sad as well. It's always like that for me, to be honest. I liked the rain, but I still can't escape this lingering feeling of gloom… a missing piece." Lloyd rubbed his hair, which was entirely soaked, "Wait— Is this one of your philosophy sessions?"

"No no, no way I'd do that to a dear friend of mine." Shogo laughed, "I'm just trying out this new method of psyche I read about, supposed to target your own mental folio, I think."

"Ha ha ha… Here comes Dr. Shogo with his usual hogwash."

"It's just as nonsensical as this train, if we're being honest." Shogo referred to the construction site.

"This a train?" Lloyd got off the fence and walked further to get a closer look at the site, followed by Shogo.

"Yep. The Shinkansen! A bullet train if that's more relevant. It's nothing new, by the outside world's standards. But we've been stuck in a time capsule for a century, it's time for a change."

"Woah…! That's insane. How fast does it go?"

"As fast as a bullet out of a gun, at least that's my guess. I don't really do the math with these things."

"Is that about that one… whatever project that's all over the news?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

It was all part of the Revitalization Project that came to be through the idea of the soon-to-be mayor, Johan Riviera, and initiated by the Committee of the One Hundred. It aimed to be a huge step-up for the city with technological marvels. A chance to implement advanced tech into the city's core, to put it out on top with reality's first world countries.

That said, Neverland was known for its fantastical environment, so going forth with such a project left a sour taste in a lot of the citizens.

Still, it did not stop Riviera from being praised in the current rally extending throughout the endless street near the citadel. Mayoral Elections were eleven days away, and Johan Riviera, the foreigner who founded RIVERCORP, was running for mayor. He was standing at the top with how his votes would turn out. After all, he orchestrated a lot of campaigns where he would boast about how he would change the city, and the country, and move the new system to the next step, by putting Neverland's core in its mind. Bland words from an amateur politician like always — if only the public would listen clearly to them though. Although he was to be the first foreigner to ever be mayor in the city — his scores were settled, the elections were to be rigged as always — which spun up a lot of opposers as much as supporters. Riviera was looking to step up his game once he would be mayor (always looking forward to the future of the future like always, an overly ambitious fellow if one would ask), setting his sights for the prime minister chair, "to truly change the world," he would tell his subordinates. For now, however, the elections were all that mattered.

"Why are they taking so much time though?" Lloyd wondered.

It has been a long while since the construction started. Lloyd often passed the citadel on his way to the academy, so he always caught a glimpse of the site. Though with every day it was improving, it was doing so at a very slow pace, slower than normal construction even. Writers, especially those who specialized in world-building like construction workers, were known for their quick merit.

"Not every creation is absolute," Shogo answered. "That's why… these things take time to ensure the absolute existence of a creation… such are the creations of world-builders — and frankly, any writer."

— World-Builders…

If world-builders had it that easy, even with little time on their hands, then what was the problem with Lloyd? He would wonder. A wide imagination, he was known for, very wide for his skills it was often troublesome. That was why he struggled with his creations back then, they were too much for him, too ambitious, that they were rendered incomplete, and thus, dull. The scenario rejected itself, erasing its command without any warning.

He knew very much that wasn't the only problem. His obsession with the scenarios of movies often interfered with his imagination; there was always so much going on within his mind, it was uncontrollable from the beginning.

"Hey… How did you become strong?" Lloyd finally asked the pressing question.

Most of the time that day had been him thinking and revising all the actions he took that day, trying to find the fault in what caused him to fail. He did not make a big deal of it in front of the others, but it did quite bother him. To become a writer was to write, so if he failed in that simple task, then what was the purpose of it all? That was he thought.

"Huh?!" Shogo gave him a concerned look.

"I mean, how do you write so well? You seem to take everything with ease and barely break a sweat, whereas I… I couldn't finish my own scenario as any writer should."

He laughed quietly. "I don't think I'm that strong. Geralt. Valerie. Wolfgang. Iris. They're all strong, and maybe even more capable than me. If you look at it logically, they're the special grade authors, I'm still just a student like you."

"Is that why you didn't stop the dragooun when you could've earlier?" Lloyd was persistent in getting an answer.

"I didn't stop the dragooun because it wasn't a monster. It was just like any animal, lost and afraid, in a world it wasn't familiar with. When I tried interfering, I just made matters worse. If I kept at it, I would've probably killed it." Shogo rubbed the back of his head, "I guess you could say that's why I didn't stop it."

"I see…"

Lloyd felt like he had a fault in all this matter.

— It's all because I was late, I wasn't fully awake yet. Gah… I need to fix my sleep schedule.

"You know," Shogo caught on to his thoughts naturally, "Sleep isn't necessarily bad. One could sleep well enough and they might tap into limitless potential. It all lies with dreams. You must dream, and venture on within. Learn what your mind is capable of. After all, it's within our dreams, the lowest stage, that lies the stem of imagination. We try our best in reality, but we're still hindered by the ethics set in our minds. Dreams have no boundaries, and neither does imagination. Set your mind free. Embrace the entropy of imagination. I believe that's the true way to open up your imagination."

"Oh yeah?" Lloyd was skeptical of Shogo's blather. "How do I even do that when I'm asleep in the first place?"

He chuckled, "That's the trick to it!"

"Right… Who is it this time? Another philosopher? Or a psychologist?"

"Yours truly, actually. I've exhausted all my other sources."

He laughed, "So the philosophee has become the philosopher. All your efforts finally came to this one moment. Must be pretty proud."

"For the record, that's not a word… there's no such thing as a philosophee."

"Would it kill you and everyone to not remind me I suck at my own words?"

Shogo laughed, he was as optimistic as ever, and rubbed Lloyd's hair in a mischievous manner, like an older brother would to tease his younger brother.

"You know the saying: We all gotta start somewhere. Anyway, let's go, got a meeting with the principal."

"You got a meeting, not me."

"Not really. You're still needed at the Academy. The advisor called for you."

"What?" Lloyd stood in his place with shock.

Being called by the advisor meant one of two things, either a student was eligible for a higher ranking for their improved scores, or they went down the drain and are facing expulsion. Knowing Lloyd, it was easy to determine which of those two was at the end of the line for him.

"Don't worry, it's gonna be fine. Probably gonna be fine."

"That's not helping."

And so, it was time to step into the Academy… on not a fine occasion.